2 MR. OLDFIELD THOMAS OX [May 6, 



mitted this specimen to Mr. R. Trimen, F.R.S., who had favoured 

 him with the following remarks upon it : — 



" On comparison of the specimen with the series in the British 

 Museum, there can be no doubt at all that it is a veritable Cossus 

 ligniperda, or ' Goat-Moth.' 



" It would be interesting to know the history of this example, 

 for there can be no question that tiinber-burrowers are carried 

 about the world more than most insects, and it seems possible 

 that the larva of this Cosms mstj have travelled in logs to the 

 Cape, and been developed there, and so been sent home as a 

 South- African insect, 



" It is also not altogether unlikely that the species may have 

 been introduced into South Africa " and have established itself 

 there, as it feeds on several different trees, and the willow (one 

 of its food-trees in Europe) is represented by a closely-allied 

 S'cdix in South Africa." 



The following papers were read : — • 



1. On the Mammals collected during the Whitaker Expedition 

 to Tripoli. By Oldfield Thomas. 



[Received March 26, 1902.] 

 (Plate I.') 



Mr. J. I. S. "Whitaker, F.Z.S., who has already done so much for 

 the exploration of the Vertebi'ate Fauna of Noi-thern Africa, and 

 to whom our National Museum is indebted for important collections 

 of Mammals from Sicily, Tunis, and Morocco, has long wished to 

 send a collecting expedition into the little-known countiy of 

 Tiipoli. Last year, by the kind intervention of the Foreign 

 Office, permission was obtained from the Sultan for Mr. Edward 

 Dodson and a companion, Mr. Drake, to travel through that 

 countiy, collecting specimens, and it is the Mammalian residts of 

 this expedition of which the present paper gives an account. 



The expedition was carried out entirely at Mr. Whitaker's 

 expense, and, as in the case of the previous Moroccan expedition, 

 he has generously presented the great majority of the Mammals 

 collected to the National Museum, to which they form a most 

 valuable addition. 



As so often happens in such cases, the material available for 

 comparison with the Tripoli collection is most imperfect, and 

 badly needs supplementing by specimens collected in modern 

 fashion. Indeed, of Barbary Mammals the only modern specimens 

 are those of Mr. Eaton from Biskra, and Mr. Dodson's own 

 previous collections from Morocco. Zoologists, therefore, who 

 • spend their wintei^s in the south would do a great service to 



1 For explanation of the Platr. see p. 1.3. 



